FN America have been awarded a $92 million contract by the US Army to produce M240 series general purpose machine guns. The firm fixed price contract awarded 8 June calls for an estimated completion date of June 2026. FN confirmed that the contract will cover M240 [Read More…]
Competition participation is becoming increasingly popular over the year and with that increased popularity has come to a much higher demand for competition-grade products. Sierra has been a well-respected name in the reloading community for its high quality and [Read More…]
SIG Sauer have announced the completion of the final delivery of their Next Generation Squad Weapon System prototypes and ammunition to the U.S. Army. The delivery includes finalised weapon prototypes which have been optimised following Army feedback from the [Read More…]
SAAMI or the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute, have just announced that three new magnum cartridges have been accepted for SAAMI standardization. The newly accepted rounds include SIG Sauer’s 277 SIG FURY (the commercially available version [Read More…]
This year’s SHOT Show was the first to have models representing all three of the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program prototypes. While SIG had actual prototypes on display (which TFB got our first look at back in September at DSEI 2019) both [Read More…]
TFB’s Matthew Moss did an excellent article about the RM277 – General Dynamics’ Next Generation Squad Weapon and in today’s Photo Of The Day we will follow up with some more speculations. And the photo above of course, which is the main attraction! [Read More…]
General Dynamics have closely guarded their Next Generation Squad Weapon prototypes, despite my best efforts they stuck to their guns and saved the big reveal for this year’s AUSA Exposition in Washington, D.C.There have been murmurings that their submission would [Read More…]
The US Army, US Marine Corps and British Army are collaborating on developing new lightweight small arms ammunition. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in hybrid ammunition, especially those using polymer case components. Todd Townsend, supervisor of [Read More…]
Truvelo is a South African firearms manufacturing company which we know for their large caliber sniper and anti-materiel rifles. In IDEX they had a small booth where they managed to fit their newest baby and two of its bigger siblings. Truvelo Manufacturers (Pty) Ltd [Read More…]
The US Army has launched their official Prototype Project Opportunity Notice (PPON) inviting design submission for both the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Rifle (NGSW-R) and the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Automatic Rifle (NGSW-AR), both chambered in the Army’s [Read More…]
A shorter Revolution, Renegade New from POF-USA are pistol versions of their small-frame .308 Revolution and their DI renegade. The new Revolution pistols in .308 feature a 12.5″ fluted barrel, buffer tube with brace and an 11.5″ handguard with M-lok. [Read More…]
After World War II, the nations of the world retired to lick their wounds and rebuild, but their arms engineers also began thinking about the next war. The war have brought forth a storm of new technologies and inventions, and one of the most significant in the field of [Read More…]
Modern? Sure, but let’s take a step back… Way back. It’s 1890 and smokeless powder has just been invented. There’s this guy named Rubin going around and spreading the gospel of the small caliber, high velocity .30″ bore round. You’re [Read More…]
Many would consider this next round to be the first intermediate cartridge ever, and while that isn’t really true, it is one of the most influential rounds of all time, and perhaps the most influential intermediate round ever developed. I am talking of course [Read More…]
In the mid-1950s, the People’s Republic of China followed the Soviet Union’s example and adopted the intermediate 7.62x39mm round. This decision substantially helped to promote that cartridge’s ubiquity throughout the world, as millions of cheap [Read More…]
Shouldn’t “Modern Full Power Calibers” be its own series? No, because then there would only be two episodes! So instead, we’re rolling today’s two most popular full power .30 cal rounds into the series on intermediates, primarily as [Read More…]
On Saturday we looked at one British “contender” which could have in some alternate reality become the NATO standard round, and today we’re going to look at another: The 4.85x49mm. After the United States adopted the .223 Remington round as the [Read More…]
Up to this point we’ve looked at calibers ranging from 5.56mm to 7.62mm, but today we’re going to look at something smaller… A lot smaller. The smallest caliber size that is feasible for a given current barrelmaking and projectile manufacture [Read More…]
Among the interesting concepts that were tested in the mid-late 20th Century is that of an extremely light for caliber, very long bullet made in part of a lightweight material like aluminum and plastic. The 7.92×40 CETME, which if I can find a specimen I will cover [Read More…]
In this installment, we’ll be looking at a very unique round. The 6mm SAW was probably the first small arms round ever designed using computer-calculated parametric analysis, and it was also probably the first American rifle round designed from the outset for [Read More…]
The 6x35mm TSWG, also commonly called the 6x35mm KAC, is a round shrouded in mystery. Apparently designed by Knight’s Armament Company for the interagency counterterrorist program cryptically named the “Technical Support Working Group” alongside the [Read More…]
In the late 1950s, after the first public demonstrations of the AR-15 and its new small caliber, high velocity cartridge, the Soviet Union took notice of the radical developments in military .22 caliber rounds in the United States. By 1959, four years before the [Read More…]
On the heels of the 7.62x40mm WT, we are now going to take a look at another former wildcat based on the 5.56mm case, the .25-45 Sharps, a round I’ve discussed before. This .25 caliber round existed for years as the .25-223, a niche quarterbore caliber used mostly [Read More…]
Like the .300 AAC Blackout that we discussed earlier, the 7.62×40 Wilson Tactical was intended to be a medium-performance .30 caliber cartridge that would function in standard AR-15 type rifles with minimal modifications, such as a barrel change. Also like the .300 [Read More…]
Previously, we talked about the Soviet 7.62x39mm caliber, which was paired with the famous Kalashnikov automatic rifle. With its much heavier bullet, larger caliber, and lower velocity, the 7.62x39mm contrasts heavily with the US 5.56mm caliber, and US weapons [Read More…]
One of the most ballistically interesting intermediate calibers ever developed is the 6.5 Grendel, developed by Arne Brennan with the assistance of Bill Alexander, and promoted heavily by the latter’s company, Alexander Arms. The 6.5 Grendel is interesting because [Read More…]
I’ve written quite a lot about the ballistics one of the first Western competitors to 5.56mm in the new millenium previously, and you can read that by following the link here. The 6.8x43mm Remington SPC was developed in the early 2000s by MSG Steve Holland and [Read More…]
Perhaps the oldest rival of the 5.56mm round is its older brother in the intermediate cartridge world, the 7.62x39mm round developed by the Soviets in the late 1940s from their earlier 7.62×41 M43 cartridge. The 7.62x39mm, despite its age, has maintained a very [Read More…]
“Nathaniel’s starting another series? Oh brother…” Bear with me. I think that there is a lot of rhetoric thrown around with regards to modern defensive/military calibers that exists apart from the necessary additional data and context of the [Read More…]
This week on Wheelgun Wednesday we’re showcasing the renowned Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver. While some may argue it’s overhyped, few iconic firearms command as much respect. The Model 29 isn’t just a technical achievement; it’s a symbol [Read More…]
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